Native American Higher Education

Native American college students make up only about 1 percent of the nation's college students. Such statistical analysis is often problematic because an individual college or university may have only a small number of Native students. As a result, Native students are often excluded in statistical reporting. Yet, statistically, between 1976 and 2002, the number of Native Americans attending college almost doubled. The potential number of Native students is also increasing as, according to the 2000 Census, 33 percent of the Native population is under the age of eighteen. The reported graduation rate of Native American college students is 36.5 percent, compared to 58 percent of White students. These percentages are based on federal reported cohort data, which counts a student in a ...